Voice control of television-related information

Abstract

Techniques are described for managing various types of content in various ways, such as based on voice commands or other voice-based control instructions provided by a user. In some situations, at least some of the content being managed includes television programming-related content, which may be managed via the voice controls in a variety of ways, such as to allow a user to locate and identify content of potential interest, to schedule recordings of selected content, to manage previously recorded content (e.g., to play or delete the content), to control live television, etc. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

1 . A method for controlling presentation of television programming using voice commands, the method comprising: 
 at a computing device in a home environment that controls presentation of television programming, receiving television programming that includes a plurality of television programs and receiving electronic programming guide (“EPG”) data that contains information about the received television programming; and    under control of the computing device, 
 receiving a voice command from a user of the computing device that contains an instruction related to a type of control of the television programming and that contains one or more criteria for selecting one or more of the television programs to be controlled;  
 analyzing the voice command to identify the instruction and the one or more criteria;  
 using the EPG data to identify one or more of the plurality of television programs that correspond to the identified one or more criteria; and  
 performing the identified instruction on at least one of the identified television programs.  
   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the computing device is a digital video recorder (“DVR”) device, wherein the at least one identified television program is a program that will be received at a future time, wherein the instruction indicates to perform a recording, and wherein the performing of the identified instruction by the DVR device includes recording the at least one identified television program at the future time.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the computing device is a set-top box device, wherein the user is local to the set-top box device in the home environment, wherein the at least one identified television program is a program that is currently available for presentation, and wherein the performing of the identified instruction by the set-top box device includes initiating current presentation of the at least one identified television program to the user on at least one television display device in the home environment.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is one of a digital video recorder (“DVR”) device, a set-top box device and a media center device, wherein the user is a current one of a plurality of users of the computing device, wherein the current user is at a first location in the home environment and wherein the computing device is at a second distinct location in the home environment, wherein the current user provides the voice command to a remote control device for the computing device that is with the current user at the first location, wherein the receiving of the voice command by the computing device is in response to transmitting of the voice command by the remote control device, wherein the analyzing of the voice command includes performing speech recognition in a manner specific to the current user and uses current state information for the computing device and is performed so as to identify one or more words for the instruction and one or more words for the criteria, wherein the one or more words for the criteria include one or more names of actors and/or one or more descriptive words, wherein the instruction is to search for one or more corresponding television programs that satisfy the criteria by having actors with those names and by having those descriptive words as part of program descriptions, wherein the identifying of the one or more television programs by using the EPG data includes performing the search, and wherein the performing of the identified instruction on at least one of the identified television programs includes displaying information to the current user to indicate the one or more identified television programs.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the displaying to the current user of the information to indicate the one or more identified television programs includes transmitting the information to a television display device in the home environment, and including: 
 before the displaying to the current user of the information to indicate the one or more identified television programs, displaying feedback to the current user on the television display device that indicates the instruction and the criteria that are identified from the analyzing of the voice command; and    receiving an additional voice command from a user that selects one of the identified television programs and in response displaying the one identified television program on the television display device.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the computing device receives the voice command from a remote control device to which the user had provided the voice command, and wherein the method further comprises receiving one or more instructions from the remote control based on manual operation of one or more controls on the remote control device by the user and responding to those received instructions so as to further control presentation of television programming.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the analyzing of the voice command includes identifying one or more words for the instruction and mapping the identified words to the identified instruction, the identified instruction being one of a plurality of predefined instructions supported by the computing device such that the remote control device can transmit signals to the computing device that correspond to the predefined instructions based on manual operation of the controls on the remote control device by the user.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising receiving one or more voice annotations from the user, each of the voice annotations providing descriptive information related to a piece of content, and initiating storage of each of the voice annotations in a manner associated with the piece of content for the voice annotation.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a television program is being presented to the user at a time of the receiving of the voice command, the television program having a plurality of portions of content to be presented over a period of time, wherein the identified one or more criteria are an indication of the television program being presented, wherein the identified instruction is to change the portion of the television program content that is currently being presented, wherein the voice command includes one or more words that specify an amount of time or that indicate a selected content portion of the television program that is distinct from a portion being presented at the time of the receiving of the voice command, and wherein the performing of the identified instruction includes modifying presentation of the television program such that presentation is initiated of the selected content portion or such that presentation is initiated of a portion of the television program that differs from the portion currently being presented by the specified amount of time.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the identified instruction is one of to search for television programs based on criteria related to content of the television programs and/or to one or more people associated with the television programs, to schedule one or more recordings of television programs, to manipulate one or more recorded television programs, to manipulate a group of a plurality of associated television programs, and to navigate among displayed options of a user interface related to television programming.  
   
   
       11 . A computer-readable medium whose contents enable a computing device to manage television programming based on voice-based control instructions, by performing a method comprising: 
 receiving metadata information about a plurality of television programs;    receiving one or more voice-based control instructions generated by a user that relate to a type of control of at least one of the television programs;    identifying one or more actions to be performed regarding one or more of the television programs, the identifying based at least in part on the received voice-based control instructions and based at least in part on the received metadata information; and    performing the identified one or more actions regarding the one or more television programs, so as to manage presentation of television programs on one or more television display devices local to the computing device.    
   
   
       12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11  wherein the computing device is one or more of a digital video recorder (“DVR”) device, a set-top box device and a media center device.  
   
   
       13 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11  wherein the computing device is associated with one or more digital video recorder (“DVR”) devices, set-top box devices and media center devices, and wherein the performing of the one or more identified actions includes transmitting one or more instructions to at least one of the associated devices so that the at least one associated device will perform at least a portion of the one or more identified actions.  
   
   
       14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11  wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the computing device and/or is a data transmission medium transmitting to the computing device a generated data signal containing the contents.  
   
   
       15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11  wherein the contents are instructions that when executed cause the computing device to perform the method.  
   
   
       16 . A computing device configured to manage television programming based on voice commands, comprising: 
 at least one input mechanism able to receive one or more voice commands generated by a user that relate to a type of control of television programming content; and    a voice command processing system configured to analyze the received voice commands to identify one or more actions to be performed regarding one or more television programs based at least in part on metadata information about those television programs, and to initiate performance of the identified one or more actions regarding the one or more television programs.    
   
   
       17 . The computing device of  claim 16  wherein the at least one input mechanism includes one or more of a microphone, a network interface connection, a direct physical connection from one or more other devices, and a connection to allow wireless communication from one or more other devices.  
   
   
       18 . The computing device of  claim 16  wherein the computing device is part of a computing system that includes one or more other devices, wherein the initiating of the performance of the identified actions includes transmitting one or more instructions to at least one of the other devices, and wherein the computing device further comprises at least one output mechanism able to transmit the one or more instructions to the at least one other devices.  
   
   
       19 . The computing device of  claim 16  wherein the voice command processing system includes software executing in memory of the computing device.  
   
   
       20 . The computing device of  claim 16  wherein the voice command processing system consists of a means for analyzing the received voice commands to identify one or more actions to be performed regarding one or more television programs based at least in part on metadata information about those television programs, and for initiating performance of the identified one or more actions regarding the one or more television programs.